Clipper-shears



G. A. LA FONTAINE.

CLIPPER SHEAHS.

APPLICATIQN FILED JUNE 12. |911.

1,303,072. y Patented May 6, 1919.

I N VEN TOR.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE A. LA FONTAINE, OF LA. HABRA, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO OTTO STEINEN, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

CLIPPER-SHEARS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. LA FON- TAINE, a citizen of the United States, residing at La Habra, in the county of Orange and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clipper-Shears, of which the following is a specilication.

This invention relates to improvements in clipper shears and has special reference to hair clippers, which are itted with shear handles, whereby they may be operated like ordinary shears or scissors.

It is an object of the invention to provide double acting clippers with shears or scissor handles extending parallel with the oppositely facing cutters of the devices, whereby the handles are not in the way when cutting hair around the shoulders or neck of a person.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a clipper with a double set of cutting teeth, whereby the clipping may be done in opposite directions, the movable clipper blade and the stationary clipper blade being each provided with shear handles extending longitudinally in the same direction as the rows of cutting teeth upon the clipper blades.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a shears clipper in which a lower and an upper blade are provided, the upper one being held movably against the lower one by means of ball bearings and a tension spring being employed to hold the parts together.

It is a further object of the invention to rovide a clipper shears having a stationary lade with cutter teeth on the opposite edges ,fthereof, and to provide a movable blade cooperating therewith, with cutter teeth on the opposite edges thereof, and to provide operating handles for said blades extending along the longitudinal axes of the blade-s, whereby the handles will not interfere with the cutting operation when the cutters on either side of the device are used.

With these and other objects in view, the invention comprises certain novel constructions, combinations and arrangements of Speciication of Letters Patent.

Patented May 6, 1919.

Application led .T une 12, 1917. SeriaI No. 174,219.

parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a clip:

per shears embodying the features of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through the longitudinal axis of the clipper, the shears handles being shown in side elevation.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the clippe shears portion thereof, the handle being broken away.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken upon the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

In clippers for ordinary hair cutting as heretofore made, the handles have always been arranged to operate in planes approximating a plane passing horizontally through the clipper blades, and also in a direction parallel with the direction of the clipper edges of the blade. In using such clippers in the cutting of a persons hair, and especially aroundthe neck and lower portions of the head, the handles are nearly always interfered with by the shoulders of the person, and the neck must be bent over and distorted to a considerable extent in order to operate upon the lower edges of the hair. The device of the present invention is not only, designed to obviate these difficulties, but is so vmade that the clipper blades can be operated substantially as easily and freely as the ordinary scissors or shears in the hand of the barber. The device is thus capable of clipping the hair in either direction, as when the barber passes his hand upwardly over the hair or draws it down again, similarv to his operation when he uses the ordinary cutting shears and a guiding comb. In the accompanying drawing, a preferred form of the clipper has been shown, and the details and features of the invention will now be more specifically described and set forth. In the drawing 5 indicates a clipper holding head, 6 a lower clipper blade, and 7 an upper or movable clipper blade. The clipper blades are preferably made with double cutting edges, that is to say, the said blades are formed with tooth shaped cutting points 8 and 9 on the opposite edges thereof. The inner or movable blade 7 is also provided with cutting teeth 10 and 11, extending along the opposite edges thereof.

The head 5, is arranged to extend along over the median lines of said clip er blades thus coming between the rows o teeth, so that the said teeth project outwardly from beneath the said head and opposite sides of the instrument. The cutting teeth of the upper and lower blades are ground to a close even fit upon each other, so as to cut the hair with a shear cut, as the upper blade is moved back and forth upon the lower one in the well known manner customary with hair clippers. The lower or stationary clipper 6 is held with respect to the head 5, by means of a central bolt 12, the lower end of which .is provided with a head seated in the lower clipper blade, while the upper end projects above the head 5, and is screw threaded at 13 to receive a tension nut 14. A spring plate or washer 15 is interposed between the said nut 14 and the head 5, so that the parts may be clamped together under a yielding spring action. The outer end of the blade is also steadied and prevented from twisting around the bolt 12 by means of a pin 16, which depends from the end of the head 5 and engages a socket or hole 17 in the end of the lower blade.

The movable blade is mounted between the stationary blade Gand the under side of the said head 5, and the cutter edges thereof bear upon the cutter edges of the stationary blade, the central inner surface of the said blades being preferably cut away at 18 and 19, as clearly .shown in the drawing. The central portion of the head 5 is provided with a longitudinal recess 20 upon its under side which receives and guides upwardly extending projections 21 and 22 formed upon the upper or movable blade along the central line thereof. The upper blade is thus guided in moving back and forth over the lower one. The upper blade is also provided with a central longitudinal slot 23 to accommodate the bolt 12. At the sides of the elon ated recess 20, bearing grooves are secured in the under surface of the head 5, and ball bearings 24 are mounted therein an'd arranged-to bear upon the upper surface of the movable blade, whereby the said blade can be moved without much friction and will operate very easily. The movable blade is also provided with a recess or aperture 25 outside the projection 21, which is adapted to receive a short operating lever arm 26, which projects from the inner end of the handle 27. The head 5 is formed with an enlarged bifurcated portion at the handle end thereof affording two ears 28 between which the enlarged end 29 of the handle 27 may be fulcrumed. A pivot bolt 30 is passed through the said ears and the enlarged portion 29 to form the fulcrum of the handle. The head 5 also has a handle 31 forming an extension thereof beyond its bifurcated portion, the said handle extending in substantially the same longitudinal direction as the head 5. The outer ends of the handles 27 and 31 are provided with the usual finger receiving rings 32 and 33, through which the fingers of the operator may be inserted for operatin the device. The movement of the handle 2 operates to cause the lever arm 26 to reciprocate the upper blade longitudinally and to move its Cutter edges back and forth over the cutter edges of the stationary blade.

lIf desired, the spring washer plate 15 may be provided with a projecting spring arm4 34 arranged to extend downwardly between the ears 28 and to bear a ainst the lever arm 26 of the handle 27, ten ing to separate the handles of the clippers to some extent. It is not usually made to entirely open the handles, butis preferably made strong enough to render the movement of the handles very easy, especially in the opening thereof. `By this means the action of the instrument is made substantially as easy and free as the movement of the ordinary shears in the hands of the barber or other operator.

In the use of the instrument, the barber grasps the handles in the same manner that he would the handles of scissors, and in trimming the hair he moves the instrument ,sidewise instead of longitudinally, the same as he would the scissors, by reason of the fact that the handles extend longitudinally from the end portions of the clipper blades. The clippers can thus be readily operated for cuttinO hair in either direction, that is to say, when passing the instrument upwardly from the neck over the head, or downwardly again with a substantially continuous operation. Also by reason of the arrangement of the handles with respect to the clipper blades, the handles do not interfere or come in contact with the shoulders of the person having his hair cut, and the head and neck do not have to be bent out of normal position. The device can be economically made and will be found exceedingly useful in trimming the hair of a person, especially about the neck and lower portions of the head. In the same way, it is useful in trimming the beard or mustache of a person.

What is claimed is:

1.. In a hair clipper having a stationary head with a handle extended therefrom, a

stationary cutter blade spaced therefrom blades in operative relation to each other, a handle for operating said movable blade, 13o

and means held on said stud for holding said handles normally spaced apart.

2. In a hair clipper having relatively stationary and movable blades and a stud for holdin said blades in operative relation, a body or supporting said stationary blade, a handle mounted thereon for operating said movable blade, and resilient means carried by. said stud and engaging said handle for holding said movable blade normally at one extreme of movement.

3. In a hair clipper having a body provided with relatively movable cutting blades, a stud supported in said body for holding; said blades in operative relation,

means for /operatingsaid blades, and means supported on said stud for resiliently engaging said blades and said operating means, whereby said operating means, when depressed, may be automatically restored to normal position.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set m hand'. e

y vGEORGE A. LA FONTAINE.` 

